Dastardly Theology: Andrew Drummond & Eleanor Janega
Andrew Drummond and Eleanor Janega join Eleanor Penny to talk Popes, Princes, Peasant Revolts, and Radical Priests.
Welcome back to the third season of The Verso Podcast! To kick off this run of shiny new episodes we’re taking a bit of a detour into the past, to have a closer look at the protestant reformation. This was a turbulent time in history - of tyrants, merchants, popes, peasants and roving priests - when early capitalist forms of power were just beginning to unsettle the old order.
Together with our host, Eleanor Penny, Andrew Drummond and Eleanor Janega paint a detailed picture of the social and political terrain from which the seeds of the German peasants’ war sprang. In particular, they’ll be considering the role played by a socially radical preacher named Thomas Müntzer - a rival to the more well known Martin Luther - and why exactly the historical record has cast him in such an unfavourable light.
At a time when political and social dissent could only find expression through the formations and language of religion, Eleanor and Andrew provide us with an enlightening account of the relationship between theology and radicalism. Along the way we’ll be hearing about heresy, apocalyptic millenarianism, and the radical dimensions of building God’s kingdom on earth.
Andrew Drummond is a historian, novelist and translator based in Edinburgh. His books include four novels, a history of Scottish railways, and a biography of the eighteenth-century adventurer Maurice Benyovszky. His latest book is The Dreadful History and Judgement of God on Thomas Müntzer - out now!
Eleanor Janega is a historian and broadcaster, and teaches medieval and early modern history at the London School of Economics. She’s the host of the Going Medieval series on HistoryHit TV, and the co-host of the history podcast We’re Not so Different. Her books include The Once and Future Sex, and The Middle Ages: A Graphic History.
Tune in for the second episode of season three where we will be joined by Matthew Beaumont and Annie Olaloku-Teriba to talk about Frantz Fanon and the politics of the body.
Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss any of our upcoming episodes this season - you definitely won’t want to miss a second of this brand new run of shows that we have lined up over the coming months, featuring even more of the world’s leading activists, scholars, and thinkers.
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